DR1 Daily News - Dominican Republic

As the shut down of the border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti reaches its second week, the crossing of thousands of Haitians for bi-national market days, is no longer happening. Insteaed, many hundreds of Haitians have returned to Haiti during this time probably to avoid being deported by Migration.

However, economist Bernardo Matias told reporters from Acento.com that each day that the bi-national markets in Jimaní, Dajabón and Elías Piña are closed is costing the Dominican Republic about US$2.7 million or somewhere in the region of RD$153 million.

Haiti is an important trading partner for Dominican producers and merchants. Last week, the government of the Dominican Republic announced that it would reimburse producers of perishable goods who were losing their markets in Haiti. Matias called unsustainable the shutdown of the borders, and says the Dominican government...